ALLEN PARK — Nate Burleson’s got his eye on one of those electric carts located in front of most any grocery store.

The Detroit Lions wide receiver wants to be back on the sideline for Lions home games, but he’s somewhat hampered. He might need transportation.

Burleson underwent surgery on Oct. 26 where a plate and five screws were inserted in his leg to fix a broken tibial plate. He will be on crutches for about another month.

“I don’t know, the doc doesn’t want me to put too much weight on it, I don’t really follow rules too well. So if I’m on the sideline I’m going to drop these crutches and start hopping around,’’ Burleson said Wednesday. “If coach wants me down there I’ll need a hover-round or one of those mechanical wheelchairs from the grocery store. I want to be on the sideline, you know me, if I show up for a game I want to do the pregame speech and all that.’’

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Burleson snapped his leg in the loss at Chicago. He knew something was seriously wrong right away.

“I remember landing on the ground feeling a crunch and then when I looked down there was a lump on the side of my knee,’’ Burleson said. “And the trainers came over and they said what happened and I told them, ‘I don’t know but that’s not supposed to be there.’

“... Once I tried to get up, tough it out and I couldn’t, I knew something was wrong. I’ve been able to walk away form a lot of injuries and I pride myself on being tough and having a high tolerance for pain,’’ Burleson said. “I collapsed and went down, that’s when I knew something was wrong.’’

He said it was tough to deal with at first. He said it would have been easier to understand if it was a cumulation of injuries.

“For it to be one play and just the way I landed was something that really kind of hurt me for a few days,’’ Burleson said. “It is what it is, the injury rate in the NFL is 100 percent, hope for the best, expect the worst in this league. You go as long as you can until the wheels fall off.’’

He recorded the pre-game message for the Lions as they prepared to face the Seahawks, their first game without Burleson.

“I said it took some screws and plates for the docs to fix it up, but do it for me the rest of the season. Body bag everybody and zip ’em up. The guys saw it, they loved it, I got some text messages and we got the win. There’s nothing better than to see your team win when you’re injured. It makes everything feel OK.’’

Who are those men?

When the Lions and Vikings met on Sept. 30, it became the second straight game that Detroit allowed both a kickoff return and a punt return for touchdowns.

It was ugly, but the Lions special teams have tightened up since then.

“They’re much improved. They’re not even the same special teams by any means. They’ve changed personnel,’’ Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said in a conference call on Wednesday. “They’re playing so, so much better as a group across the board. They’re a different special teams unit than the one we faced early in the season. They’ve made some dramatic changes that have worked out well for them.”

When coach Jim Schwartz was told of those comments, he had a quick reply.

“Well, No. 1 I would hope so because we were at a low point. But, you know, a lot of it’s been the same players,’’ Schwartz said. “I think some young guys have gotten more experience. We’ve kept the same schemes, but a couple guys have moved around here and there.’’

Since that Vikings win, Lions special teams have not given up any returns for touchdowns.

Ins and outs

Wide receivers Calvin Johnson and Titus Young were among the seven players who didn’t participate in practice Wednesday. Both have been dealing with knee injuries.

Johnson didn’t practice at all last week and then on Sunday had seven catches for 129 yards.

Louis Delmas (knee) also did not practice. He re-injured his knee two weeks ago and hasn’t practiced or played since.

Another safety, Amari Spievey, has not been cleared for contact since he suffered a concussion on Oct. 22.

Cliff Avril (back) has been taking days off at practice each week as has Corey Williams (knee). It was a rest day for Kyle Vanden Bosch.